Mr Richard Holden

Richard Holden is another Conservative candidate who took a Labour-held seat for the first time its history in December 2019, unseating shadow cabinet minister and loyal Corbyn-supporter Laura Pidcock. Holden took the seat of North West Durham with a 1,144 majority and now sits on the Public Accounts and European Statutory Instruments Committees. Holden has a long history in politics, joining the Conservative Campaign Headquarters straight after graduating from LSE as a data administrator. Holden rose through the Conservative ranks, becoming deputy head of press and, in 2015, unsuccessfully contested the safe Labour seat of Preston. Missing out on the seat by a large margin, Holden became a special adviser to several cabinet ministers including the then defence secretary Michael Fallon, Chris Grayling at the Department for Transport, and finally Gavin Williamson at the Department for Education before his election to the Commons. Holden writes a fortnightly column for right-wing political blog ConservativeHome, and has campaigned on issues such as increasing Vehicle Excise Duty on motorhomes and scrapping business rates on public toilets. He is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Gambling Related Harm and Town and Parish Councils.